


Nema þú Stendur

by jattendrai



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Ice Skating, No Romance, Post-Canon, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 13:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9074695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jattendrai/pseuds/jattendrai
Summary: He hoped Chell could feel it, too.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [m-pauling on Tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=m-pauling+on+Tumblr).



> My Portal Secret Santa give for M-pauling on Tumblr! Sorry I got it in a little bit later, but I hope you like it!
> 
> ( Also, the title is Icelandic for 'But You Are Standing', haha)

Boots dug through snow, pressing down and melting it into the forgotten sidewalk with each step. Chell, a woman of a long stride, carried herself through the cold with a look of determination on her scrunched, tinted face. The bits of snow, freshly fallen, clung to her bunched up hair and decorated her yellow sweater, the only thing she had on to bite against the winter air besides a pair of jeans and a tightly-wrapped knitted scarf.

Not too far behind, following the path her skipping feet lay in the snow, came Doug. His cane dipped in and out, one hobbled foot at a time, unable to match the absolute speed his companion was going; the cold got to him worse, stiffening his joints and filling icicles in his trachea, blooming in the connections of his nerves and shaking his breaths with every inhale; a slender coat coming to his knees was all that covered his unwashed, unchanged uniform from long ago, but it was enough to keep hypothermia at bay. 

The two walked through the snow in silence, though that was pretty common nowadays; there still wasn’t much to talk about other than their past together, what had happened not so long ago in the bowels of the place they’re glad to no longer call home. Hobbies entered their lives, but it was nothing of conversation ( they already knew of Doug’s art therapy, and Chell’s new fascination with knitting was a bit fleeting, but took up enough time). The silence was fine, though, it was a bit of a resting period they both deserved.

“ Where exactly did you say we were going?” The ice parted in Doug’s  throat to let him call out to Chell, who simply shrugged in return, keeping her fastening pace. Neighborhoods he’s never been past before ran together like smudged paint, and all the lights strung up on porches and lightly-covered bushes blurred in his sight. Occasionally they’d pass another person, but Doug only greeted them with a hello as Chell simply waved.

Corner names were forgotten and Doug’s fingers began to turn a dark shade of pink, so he shoved them into his pockets.

Finally, after what felt like miles in the cold, Chell seemed to slow down, and another turn brought them within eyeshot of town. Lights, numerous of them in various colors and styles, hung from the rooftops, poles, fixtures and the likes, melting the darkness of the outskirts into an electrical daytime that left no street or block dark. The sheer amount of life that walked the streets, from children loud with laughter and adults in silence, to cars passing on untouched streets and bikes finding their way over snow mounds and crowds.

Carefully she closed the gap between them, grasping Doug’s arm and pulling him into the world. The mass of noises, of sensations and smells and lights and feelings that never came so fast, dizzying almost as he hadn’t taken his medication that morning ( there was one pill left, and his Cube -- something he managed through countless homeless shelters with struggle -- told him against it, somehow,) almost made him topple over twofold.

But the weight Chell put against him, how her legs acted as his own as they sped through crosswalks and between the crowds, managed him through it all. Carefully, like he was taught years ago, he tried to sort in his mind the good ( the bakeries, the restaurants, the sound of carolers and holiday cheer,) with the bad ( the obnoxiously loud engines of the cars passing, the unidentifiable noises of town), stumbling to the strength of his brain that mashed everything together as one massive sensation that rattled in his head, unable to translate into anything other than emotion, speeding his heart rate. Soon he was pulled away from the heart, and it just comes to Doug that he had been moving almost automatically, unable to tell where he was going until Chell stopped him and was able to collect himself from the noise, the world coming back from the blur of sensory overload that knotted into his stomach; the large buildings have made way to an open area, street lights rolling down a slight hill to open up to -- an ice rink.

An open ice rink, made in the center of a parking lot, two barricades on either side with a large tent set up near the entrance. Chell had promised an outing, albeit a vague one that consisted of pulling Doug up off the stingy mattress at close to sunset but ---- _ice skating_. The man with the leg that took a bullet --  _ ice skating _ ?

Before he could make out any words, any detests or befuddles, Chell was already sliding downhill on her own, unaware of how soaked her pants will be by the end of the night. In a frenzy he followed, the cane in one hand acting as a balance to keep him from falling flat on his back as he made it downhill, stopping below at the open dirt of the lot. He tried to catch her there, but she jumped too quickly and was off before he could even collect himself.

He followed Chell, giddy, excited like a child, to the large tent. As he came closer, he was able to make out a stand beneath it, with Chell pulling out a sum of bills from her back pocket, placing them on the table and eventually being rewarded two pairs of ice skates.

She turned back to him with a smile, though Doug was sure he made confusion clear on his face.

“ I don’t know how to-” she shoved a pair towards him, shaking her head and setting out to find a spot to sit. For a moment Doug just stood there, a bit bewildered and cursed to the fact that Chell still hasn’t found her voice -- literally -- yet, making communication a somewhat agitating struggle.

Eventually he found his way to the picnic bench Chell picked out, where she was struggling to slip on the tight skates. He was still bit put off by the idea --- since his leg hasn’t grown much better since the years of that fatal wound, taking away his ability to balance without thinking and all extensive feeling in his thigh, though he could manage little bursts without his cane --- but he made it this far, and who's to say skating wouldn’t be a fun adventure?

Chell triumphantly stood once she managed to tie a sloppy bow to her skates, throwing her fists up into the air. Doug, though a bit brittle at the fingers, carefully managed his skates on, tying up the string delicately and with caution. As soon as he lowered his leg he was hoisted up by Chell, nearly toppling over and flat onto the ground.

She balanced him across and over to the ice rink. Kids and teenagers scattered around it’s massive icey plane; a mix of tricks and falls, children tugging onto each other as they made their way over the ice, teens screaming and laughing as they tried to do leg kicks and figure-eights.

Below, Doug could feel the click of the ice against the sharp metal, and almost immediately wanted to back out; but Chell was a very persistent one, and tightened her grip against his arm, leading him farther away from the edge of the rink. Lights surrounding the area flashed brightly, almost warming him to a sweat, and the first quiver of his legs threatened to bring them both down to the icy floor.

Soon though, they managed a steady pace; Chell leading. Small cuts into the ice, Doug’s eyes watching carefully down at Chell’s as she gripped his arms, pulling him around the ice the like one would pull a friend in a wagon. Occasionally a turn would to cause him to slip up, an ankle to bend and bring the skate off the path, but Chell was always there to be the weight that kept him from falling.

For a moment it was nice; the chatter of the crowd was softer than that of town, and if anything became too much he could easily focus on the sound of the skates against the ice. It was almost like floating, the repetitious path they spun in putting his body at ease -- and soon they parted, leaving Doug to balance all on his own in the blinding lights, as Chell took off.

It was almost like a miracle. Gravity still tried to pull him down, but somehow he managed up again and again, with Chell letting a loose laugh out from somewhere near him as he got back up, trying again and again to make it on his own; the tumbles became less as he was able to hold himself up in a straight line, Chell merrily running past him and sliding around the rink.

Turns were harder to get on his own, and occasionally the fall felt too embarrassing to warner another try -- but eventually Chell would spin around to him and pick him up herself, poking the bridge of his nose in a signal to watch her as she demonstrated to him how to pick his foot up and lean as to turn.

The night was spent much like that, a master teaching the trainee the ins and outs, moving throughout the ice rink and passed the children that watched them, laughing and tumbling across the ice. When he never thought he’d get it, Chell give in to being the anchor; wrapping her arm across his back and hooking on his torso, aligning their feet as one. The warmth of one against the other was nice, and her weight managed to pull them to a speed fit for both. Soon they were making waves of patterns intricately, circles turning into massive figure-eights, countless laps across the ice and slight attempts at dancing that took them both under.

There was something Doug could feel, right within his chest, as if he had just eaten the sun and let it spill throughout and into his lungs --- _happiness,_ he decided was the right word. It was something he hadn't felt very much of in the past years, but here now, looped against the woman he remembers saving -- and who saved him -- fondly, he could say with absolutely certainty that this was, one-hundred percent, happiness.

He hoped Chell could feel it, too.

 

Eventually the night dragged on, and the final whistle for ice skates blew from the tent. There was a bite of disappointment against Chell’s face, the one night of fun they might get for the rest of winter seemingly gone too quickly --- but it was getting rather dark, and as adults they had newfound jobs to get to in the morning ( and the last thing Doug wanted was to show up sore on his first day of work.)

They returned the skates, with Doug thanking the men at the stands for putting on such a thing, and carefully with his cane tucked into his hands, and Chell wrapping her scarf tightly around her frostbitten face, they began to head home. 

Lights melted back into darkness as they once against trotted into the neighborhoods of silence, a fresh smear of snow against the sidewalk that lead them back; occasionally Chell would run ahead, attempting to mimic of skating move that really just made the two laugh. They were like that for a bit, hopping down the streets like children though making sure not to wake any of the neighbors up, and soon they returned back to their home.

The apartment door was lightly adorned by the lights strung up against their home, and carefully Doug managed the keys from out of his pocket, cold as metal could be.

They were greeted by the same empty living room they had just recently began to call home, their shared bedroom off to left without a door ( if that, along with the fact that the ‘bedroom’ was just two leveled mattresses with pillows and wool blankets thrown over them, could be considered a bedroom.)

Chell had wandered into the back where their kitchen sat, the bright yellow of the light melting out into the otherwise dark rest of the house; Doug, a bit too tired to think of food over sleep, kicked his shoes off at the door and b-lined for the bedroom. The heater had yet to be fully functional in the house, so he didn’t even really think of taking off his coat before turning into the blankets on his respective bed.

“ How was it,” His Cube spoke from the edge of the mattress where his head lay. His pill bottle, with the single pill inside, sat atop of it.

“ It was nice,” he managed, his voice a bit hoarse from the cold.

“ Did you fall?”

“ Hm…. a couple of times,”

Chell’s snort echoed in the house.

“ Ok, I fell a lot,” he managed a slight laugh.

“ At least you had fun.”

The world began to smear out of vision again, and Doug began to close to his eyes, “ Yeah, I did…..”


End file.
